Moloch

(Hebrew Molech, king).

A divinity worshipped by the idolatrous
Israelites. The Hebrew pointing Molech does not represent the original
pronunciation of the name, any more than the Greek vocalization Moloch
found in the LXX and in the Acts (vii, 43). The primitive title of this
god was very probably Melech, "king", the consonants of which came to be
combined through derision with the vowels of the word Bosheth, "shame".
As the word Moloch (A.V. Molech) means king, it is difficult in several
places of the Old Testament to determine whether it should be considered
as the proper name of a deity or as a simple appellative. The passages
of the original text in which the name stands probably for that of a god
are Lev., xviii, 21; xx, 2-5; III (A. V. I) Kings, xi, 7; IV (II)
Kings, xxiii, 10; Is., xxx, 33; lvii, 9; Jer., xxxii, 35. The chief
feature of Moloch's worship among the Jews seems to have been the
sacrifice of children, and the usual expression for describing that
sacrifice was "to pass through the fire", a rite carried out after the
victims had been put to death. The special centre of such atrocities was
just outside of Jerusalem, at a place called Tophet (probably "place of
abomination"), in the valley of Geennom. According to III (I) Kings, xi,
7, Solomon erected "a temple" for Moloch "on the hill over against
Jerusalem", and on this account he is at times considered as the monarch
who introduced the impious cult into Israel. After the disruption,
traces of Moloch worship appear in both Juda and Israel. The custom of
causing one's children to pass through the fire seems to have been
general in the Northern Kingdom [IV (II) Kings, xvii, 17; Ezech. xxiii,
37], and it gradually grew in the Southern, encouraged by the royal
example of Achaz (IV Kings, xvi, 3) and Manasses [IV (II) Kings, xvi, 6]
till it became prevalent in the time of the prophet Jeremias (Jerem.
xxxii, 35), when King Josias suppressed the worship of Moloch and
defiled Tophet [IV (II) Kings, xxiii, 13 (10)]. It is not improbable
that this worship was revived under Joakim and continued until the
Babylonian Captivity.

On the basis of the Hebrew reading of III (I) Kings, xi, 7, Moloch has
often been identified with Milcom, the national god of the Ammonites,
but this identification cannot be considered as probable: as shown by
the Greek Versions, the original reading of III (I) Kings, xi, 7, was
not Molech but Milchom [cf. also III (I) Kings, xi, 5, 33]; and
according to Deut., xii, 29-31; xviii, 9-14, the passing of children
through fire was of Chanaanite origin [cf. IV (II) Kings, xvi, 3]. Of
late, numerous attempts have been made to prove that in sacrificing
their children to Moloch the Israelites simply thought that they were
offering them in holocaust to Yahweh. In other words, the Melech to whom
child-sacrifices were offered was Yahweh under another name. To uphold
this view appeal is made in particular to Jer., vii, 31; xix, 5, and to
Ezech., xx, 25-31. But this position is to say the least improbable.
The texts appealed to may well be understood otherwise, and the prophets
expressly treat the cult of Moloch as foreign and as an apostasy from
the worship of the